Professional Practice for the Associated Valuer
Professional practice covers how a valuer is engaged, how the work is scoped, and how the engagement is documented and delivered. Candidates must understand the difference between an instruction (the client's request), the terms of engagement (scope, purpose, basis of value, assumptions, limitations, fee, and reliance), and the report (the deliverable). A valuation cannot be performed responsibly without a defined purpose and basis of value, because the same property can carry very different figures depending on whether the basis is market value, market rent, forced sale, or fair value.
Key concepts include independence and objectivity, competence and due care, confidentiality, record-keeping, professional indemnity insurance, and the duty to decline or qualify work outside one's competence. The valuer must also manage conflicts of interest, avoid contingent fees that compromise objectivity, and keep working papers sufficient for a peer to reconstruct the reasoning.
Traps in questions: confusing purpose (why the valuation is needed, e.g. mortgage security) with basis (the definition of value applied); treating an inspection as optional when the terms require one; and assuming a desktop or restricted valuation carries the same reliance as a full inspection. Another trap is accepting an instruction with an undisclosed contingent fee.
Rule of thumb: no purpose, no basis, no valuation. Before quoting or inspecting, confirm in writing the client, the property, the purpose, the basis, the date, the extent of inspection and investigation, and any assumptions.
Worked example: A lender asks for a "quick figure" by phone. The correct response is not to give a number but to confirm the purpose (mortgage security), the basis (market value), the inspection requirement, and reliance - then issue terms of engagement before proceeding.